Focus On: Ayinde Ubaka

Chris Nguon

02/07/2004

<p class=txt>With half his freshman year under his belt, Oakland HS graduate Ayinde Ubaka has steadily improved both his mental and physical level of play on the court. In Thursday night&#8217;s upset of Arizona, &#8220;Yinde&#8221; began to play more like floor leader and to demonstrate aspects of his game that one day might qualify him for conference honors.</p>

For starters, playing against a super-talent like Mustafa Shakur of the Arizona Wildcats is a tough challenge. Add to that the fact
that Shakur clearly
outplayed Ubaka in their get together earlier this year and
you
understand what Ayinde Ubaka was facing Thursday night when he took the floor.

On Offense:

Despite still working to find a consistent stroke from outside,
Ubaka’s
2-11 shooting on Thursday was not indicative of how well
he played in terms of setting up his teammates and looking for his own shot
when appropriate.

With the long and athletic Shakur on his tail the whole night,
Ayinde was never rattled by ball pressure from Shakur or any of his
Arizona teammates. From the opening tip, Ubaka seemed to be in confident control
of his team. His awareness of where every one of his teammates
should be on the court really showed on Thursday night, as Ayinde frequently
and vocally directed his teammate positioning. As evidenced by the 88 points
Cal scored (the highest single game total this season),
the
Bears were rarely out of position.

Ayinde made several
strong
drives
to the basket. Steadily shadowing away from his early season tendency
to go east-west, Ubaka barged north-south and created
many offensive opportunities both for himself and for his teammates.

On Defense:

Whether there was something in the scouting report,
or perhaps the fact that Shakur's unorthodox jump shot is just plain ugly,
Ubaka seemed early on to be daring Shakur
to take the shot. Being the big time player that he is,
Shakur made Ubaka pay by smoothly knocking down a couple of early scores.
Seeing this, Ayinde made the adjustment and made a much more consistent effort
to get through the Arizona screens from the top side,
cutting down Shakur’s time to set his feet for a shot.

Ubaka’s
on-ball
defense against Shakur (and at times against Salim Stoudamire) was also solid.
Shakur was not able to effectively use his drive
and dish
skills in the half court as most of his assists and points
came in the open court when the very athletic Wildcats were on
the run.

Overall:

Showing that he is really begriming to understand how to
read a Division I defense, Ayinde seems increasingly confident
with the ball in
his hands. His decision making Thursday night against a quick,
athletic guard-oriented team signifies a big step forward in
Ubaka's development. The only (mild) criticism we could offer about
Ayinde's play is that down the stretch, despite hitting
four clutch
free throws,
he was not as aggressive as a great point guard would have been in some
key situations.

For starters, playing against a super-talent like Mustafa Shakur of the Arizona Wildcats is a tough challenge. Add to that the fact that Shakur clearly outplayed Ubaka in their get together earlier this year and you understand what Ayinde Ubaka was facing Thursday night when he took the floor.

On Offense:

Despite still working to find a consistent stroke from outside, Ubaka’s 2-11 shooting on Thursday was not indicative of how well he played in terms of setting up his teammates and looking for his own shot when appropriate.

With the long and athletic Shakur on his tail the whole night, Ayinde was never rattled by ball pressure from Shakur or any of his Arizona teammates. From the opening tip, Ubaka seemed to be in confident control of his team. His awareness of where every one of his teammates should be on the court really showed on Thursday night, as Ayinde frequently and vocally directed his teammate positioning. As evidenced by the 88 points Cal scored (the highest single game total this season), the Bears were rarely out of position.

Ayinde made several strong drives to the basket. Steadily shadowing away from his early season tendency to go east-west, Ubaka barged north-south and created many offensive opportunities both for himself and for his teammates.

On Defense:

Whether there was something in the scouting report, or perhaps the fact that Shakur's unorthodox jump shot is just plain ugly, Ubaka seemed early on to be daring Shakur to take the shot. Being the big time player that he is, Shakur made Ubaka pay by smoothly knocking down a couple of early scores. Seeing this, Ayinde made the adjustment and made a much more consistent effort to get through the Arizona screens from the top side, cutting down Shakur’s time to set his feet for a shot.

Ubaka’s on-ball defense against Shakur (and at times against Salim Stoudamire) was also solid. Shakur was not able to effectively use his drive and dish skills in the half court as most of his assists and points came in the open court when the very athletic Wildcats were on the run.

Overall:

Showing that he is really begriming to understand how to read a Division I defense, Ayinde seems increasingly confident with the ball in his hands. His decision making Thursday night against a quick, athletic guard-oriented team signifies a big step forward in Ubaka's development. The only (mild) criticism we could offer about Ayinde's play is that down the stretch, despite hitting four clutch free throws, he was not as aggressive as a great point guard would have been in some key situations.